Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking

An ASCD Study Guide for Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking

This ASCD Study Guide is designed to enhance your understanding and application of the information contained in Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking, an ASCD book written by Erik Palmer and published in March 2014.

You can use the study guide after you have read the book or as you finish each chapter. The study questions provided are not meant to cover all aspects of the book but rather to address specific ideas that might warrant further reflection.

Most of the questions you can think about on your own, but you might consider pairing with a colleague or forming a study group with others who have read (or are reading) Teaching the Core Skills of Listening and Speaking.

Introduction

Make three lists of the different kinds of listening your students did in your classroom today: listening to one another (e.g., book reports, sharing answers, asking questions); listening to you (e.g., directions, lectures, explanations); and listening to media (e.g., CNN Student News, morning announcements over PA, a video about three branches of government). Reflect on these lists and break out the percentages. Roughly how much of their listening was to one another? To you? To media? Share your estimates with others.

Make a list of all the occasions when students spoke in your class today (e.g., they asked questions about the assignment, they discussed Chapter 3 in small groups, they presented their biology projects). Think critically about the speaking you heard. How well do your students speak? What do they do well? What do they do poorly?

The author makes a distinction between activities and instruction. Does that distinction make sense to? Do you agree that we have shortchanged instruction on listening and speaking?

Chapter 1. The Most Fundamental Skills for Success

The author states that listening is the predominant language art. Do you agree?

If "education is fundamentally and unquestionably grounded in oral communication," why do you think educators generally devote less time to oral communication instruction than to instruction focused on, say, reading, writing, or mathematics?

This chapter identifies eight areas of education practice where listening and speaking play a crucial role: in classroom discussion, in reading instruction, in writing instruction, in presentations, in 21st century skills, in language acquisition, and in instruction for students with disabilities. On a sheet of paper, make eight columns, one for each area. Under each area heading, list a couple of the examples the author gives to demonstrate the importance of oral communication in that area, and then add additional examples of your own. Which of these areas are most important to you? Which do you believe present the best case for increasing efforts to teach listening and speaking?

What problems in your classroom might be attributed to students' struggle to communicate orally? What specific skill deficiencies have you noticed? Do you think these deficiencies could be remedied with more direct attention to teaching listening and speaking?

How might your classes be different if your students had stronger oral communication skills?

Chapter 2. Core Skills, Core Standards

Which of the six anchor standards in the Common Core's Speaking and Listening strand do you feel is most important for student success in school? Which will be most important in a student's life after graduation?

Which of the standards would your students have the hardest time meeting right now?

Discussions about the Common Core standards often focus on how the standards were adopted or whether or not high-stakes testing is beneficial. Putting those issues aside and looking only at the standards themselves, is there an anchor standard in the Speaking and Listening strand that you object to or believe is an inappropriate goal?

Chapter 3. Collaborating/Discussing

Look at the specific version of Standard 1 for the grade level(s) you teach. Is the standard realistic? How close are your students to meeting the grade-level standard right now?

Look at the overall picture of Standard 1 from kindergarten through grades 11–12, and note the author's comments about how the standards are sequenced to scaffold skill development over time. Does the scaffolding make sense to you? What would you change, if anything?

The author makes a distinction between discussion and collaborative discussion. Explain the difference. Think of all of the discussions that took place in your classroom over the past week. What percentage of them were collaborative?

The author offers seven strategies to promote collaboration. Which of these do you use regularly now? Explain how you use it and how it benefits your students. Which of the strategies that are new to you would fit well into your classroom? What other strategies do you use to promote collaboration that you could add to the author's list?

If possible, read pages 250–256 of Susan Cain's book, Quiet. How do you strive to balance collaboration and all its benefits with the need to honor introverts' preference for independent work and quiet contemplation?

The author lists several rules for civil discussion. Which, if any, would benefit your class? What kinds of rules currently govern your class discussions? How did you get students to honor those rules? How might you pitch any of these new rules to your students?

What areas of your curriculum would best support evidence-based discussion? Think of a specific lesson or unit and determine where this kind of discussion would support student learning.

Chapter 4. Listening/Media Literacy

Look at the specific version of Standard 2 for the grade level(s) you teach. Is the standard realistic? How close are your students to meeting the grade-level standard right now?

Look at the overall picture of Standard 2 from kindergarten through grades 11–12, and note the author's comments about how the standards are sequenced to scaffold skill development over time. Does the scaffolding make sense to you? What would you change, if anything?

What is the difference between "listening" as teachers typically think about it and "comprehension" as the CCSS define it?

What "traditional" listening prompts did you give today (e.g., "Shhh!" "Be quiet." "Jimmy, please pay attention.")? Which of your prompts are more enforcement of good manners and which actually encourage active listening?

The author lists several purposes for listening, and he recommends listening for one purpose at a time. Which of the listening purposes identified are most commonly valued in education? Which do you believe need more emphasis?

Think about the kind of filters you have. How might those filters affect the way you hear the statement, "Teachers need to give a lot more attention to teaching listening and speaking"?

Do you agree that schools should teach media literacy? If so, what do you see as the best way to fit it into the curriculum? What do you propose be de-emphasized to make room to teach this and other new literacies?

Review the lessons presented on pages 70–83. Which of these lessons would fit best in your classroom? Can you think of a specific unit you teach that would be improved by one or more of these literacies?

Chapter 5. Questioning/Reasoning

Look at the specific version of Standard 3 for the grade level(s) you teach. Is the standard realistic? How close are your students to meeting the grade-level standard right now?

Look at the overall picture of Standard 3 from kindergarten through grades 11–12, and note the author's comments about how the standards are sequenced to scaffold skill development over time. Does the scaffolding make sense to you? What would you change, if anything?

Think of a "conclusion" statement used in a recent class discussion. Did you work backwards with the class to develop the argument supporting that conclusion? Now, think of topic you plan to discuss as a group in an upcoming class. How might employing this discussion strategy affect that discussion?

Which of the five ideas listed under the "Developing Questioning Skills" heading do you believe would be most useful with your students?

Try out a Platonic Seminar with a group of colleagues. Select someone to be "Socrates" then discuss a topic (e.g., the use of high-stakes testing in education). As statements are made, "Socrates" will question the speaker. For example:You: Testing costs too much.Socrates: How much does it cost? Does anyone know exactly how much our school district spends on testing?Every few minutes, switch to a different issue and a new Socrates.

The author argues that we cannot expect students to master material they have not been taught. What lessons focused on reasoning are currently taught in your school? If you were made responsible for teaching one of the four lessons suggested in the "Developing Reasoning Skills" section, which would you choose? Which of the lessons had the most new information for you?

Look back at the Comprehension and Collaboration standards and the discussion of listening skill development in Chapters 3, 4, and 5. What are the three things that really stand out in your mind? What will be the biggest challenges? How might your school meet those challenges?

Chapter 6. Speaking Well

Look at the specific version of Standard 4 for the grade level(s) you teach. Is the standard realistic? How close are your students to meeting the grade-level standard right now?

Look at the overall picture of Standard 4 from kindergarten through grades 11–12, and note the author's comments about how the standards are sequenced to scaffold skill development over time. Does the scaffolding make sense to you? What would you change, if anything?

The author argues for dividing the skills of oral communication into two distinct parts, "building a speech" and "performing a speech." Think about your current students. Which are skilled with the "building" but struggle with the "performing"? Which are strong performers but weak builders? How might separating oral communication into these two skill sets affect the kind of instruction you provide?

What would be the benefit of expanding the kinds of speaking students learn to do beyond the informational talks that the Common Core emphasizes? How might you fit additional kinds of speaking into your curriculum?

Do you agree with the author that how a speech is delivered is as important or even more important than the preparation that goes into the speech? Why or why not?

Review the various the rubrics and score sheets you use to evaluate your students' speeches, and compare them with the rubrics and score sheets your colleagues use. Do you all use consistent language and have consistent expectations? Do you all value the same criteria in the same way? Reread the discussion of rubric terminology beginning on page 119. Do any of the terms appear on your rubrics? How might you revise your rubrics in light of the points raised?

Review PVLEGS, the multiple-trait approach that the author developed and discusses at length in his book Well Spoken. Use this framework to analyze a speaker you admire. Share your results (e.g., "She really used Speed well, speeding up to create excitement and slowing down to emphasize a point." "In terms of Gestures, he had terrific hand and face gestures.") Do you agree that a speaker who has mastered PVLEGS would be a competent oral communicator? Why or why not?

Which of the five strategies that the author identifies in the "Developing Delivery Skills" Take Action section do you think would be the most effective with your students? How might you incorporate these strategies into current instructional activities?

Chapter 7. Incorporating Multimedia

Look at the specific version of Standard 5 for the grade level(s) you teach. Is the standard realistic? How close are your students to meeting the grade-level standard right now?

Look at the overall picture of Standard 5 from kindergarten through grades 11–12, and note the author's comments about how the standards are sequenced to scaffold skill development over time. Does the scaffolding make sense to you? What would you change, if anything?

How have you changed the way you present information to students over the course of your career? How have your students changed the way they present?

We all have preconceived notions about what classroom wall displays and other instructional media, like slide presentations, should look like. Did the information on designing for specific media, presented on pages 136–140, challenge any of your ideas about these matters? Are there any changes you might want to make? Get together with colleagues and review the PowerPoint presentations that you currently use for Back to School Night or for a particular lesson. Critique one another's presentations using the design principles covered in this chapter.

The author advocates incorporating presentation literacy into existing units. Where would this content fit naturally into your existing lesson plans? Think, for example, about the videos you show and how you might call students' attention to the effects of the videos' music or imagery. Or consider units in which you ask students to produce media presentations as a final product. Would it be beneficial to incorporate use of the Tool for Creating Video Presentations?

Do you and your colleagues currently embrace digital tools in your instruction? If not, why not? What are the barriers to using this kind of media or asking students to use it?

Chapter 8. Adapting for the Occasion

Look at the specific version of Standard 6 for the grade level(s) you teach. Is the standard realistic? How close are your students to meeting the grade-level standard right now?

Look at the overall picture of Standard 6 from kindergarten through grades 11–12, and note the author's comments about how the standards are sequenced to scaffold skill development over time. Does the scaffolding make sense to you? What would you change, if anything?

What kind of code switching are students in your school asked or expected to do? How are these expectations explained to students?

The author advocates helping students develop speaking skills they can use in a variety of real-world situations: formal and informal, one-on-one conversations and presentations to large groups, in-person and digital communication. Brainstorm a list of the different audiences your students address over the course of a school year. What steps could you take to expand this list?

Which of the four categories of speaking identified (informative, persuasive, entertaining, and demonstrative) is most common in your classroom? Do you agree that teachers ought to focus on all four categories? Why or why not? Think of how speeches of each type might be integrated to teach the components of PVLEGS (e.g., a demonstrative speech would support instruction and practice focused on Gestures).

When it comes to presentation modes, teachers tend to emphasize the student stand-and-deliver mode. The author suggests some other ways for students to present. What other presentation modes are you aware of or do you use?

What would you say to try to convince your students that speaking well matters in all oral communication situations?

Look back at the Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas standards and the discussions of the speaking skill development in Chapters 6, 7, and 8. What are the three things that really stand out in your mind? What will be the biggest challenges? How might your school meet those challenges?

Chapter 9. Assessing Listening and Speaking

Visit the website for either PARCC or SBAC. (Choose the testing consortium that your state is aligned with, even if your particular school is not part of that testing; if your state is not part of PARCC or SBAC, just select one to get an idea of what other educators will be doing.) Look up the latest design of the assessments focused on listening and speaking. Critique the logistics of the assessment: Is it doable? Critique the comprehensiveness of the assessment: Does it address all of the listening and speaking skills we have discussed?

Look at all the rubrics at the consortium's website. The author argues that the rubrics fail to understand the two distinct aspects of oral communication (building a speech vs. performing a speech) and do not correctly weight the value of what speakers do as they are speaking. Do you agree? Why or why not?

Create a listening rubric for a lesson you currently teach, using pages 171–172 as a guide. Share and discuss this with colleagues.

The author believes that we should teach and evaluate students questioning ability in addition to their speaking and listening ability. Do you agree? How would your students benefit from instruction focused on questioning?

Look back at the rubrics and score sheets your examined earlier (Chapter 6, Item #6). Which scores focus on building the talk? Which scores focus on performing the talk? Do your rubrics account for both aspects? How might your revise your rubrics to give both aspects the attention they deserve?

Should the audience be involved in scoring student talks? How might that benefit the speaker? How might that benefit the listeners?

The author finishes the chapter by adding a note that we may not be able to put a number on all of the listening and speaking skills assessed. Do you agree that teacher judgment should be a valid measure?

Final Thoughts

The author offers an analogy to illustrate that it is possible to spend a lot of time doing something without getting better. Does the comparison seem reasonable to you? If you agree that students will benefit from direct listening and speaking instruction, what will you commit to do right away? What will you commit to do this year? How will you encourage others in your school to teach listening and speaking?

Think of your own experience as a student. What lessons taught in school do you now think were unimportant? What do you wish had been emphasized more? Would you have appreciated more instruction about the skills mentioned in this book? Which ones in particular?